ICE-COOL Keely Hodgkinson insists she is not feeling the pressure as she reaches the ‘home straight’ of her hunt for a first major championship gold, writes Sportsbeat's Will Jennings.

The Atherton star safely booked her place in Saturday night’s 800m European medal showdown as a time of 2mins 00.67secs fired her to semi-final victory in Munich.

Hodgkinson, 20, won Olympic silver in Tokyo last summer before doing the same at this year’s World Championships and Commonwealth Games.

She says she’s happy with her season overall and is relishing the prospect of a duel against a star-studded line-up under the city’s Olympic Stadium lights.

Hodgkinson, who competes at 7:15pm on Saturday evening, said: “I’d love to be on the top of the podium this year.

“It’s one of my aims and I was going into every championships to win.

“Unfortunately that hasn’t happened, but I’m happy with my season overall.

“I’ve performed well and I’m still one of the best in the world, but it would just be nice to finish on top.

“I’m definitely on the home straight now – I just need to remain focused for tomorrow.

“I think everyone can pose a threat to medal – Lore Hoffman has had a strong last two years and you can never really count anyone out.

“It is going to be a tough race in the final. I never count anyone out, but I know what I am capable of and I’m looking forward to it.

“I want to have a clean race, strike at the right time and hopefully come away with a nice gold medal.”

It’s been a jam-packed summer of athletics and Hodgkinson, one of the British poster girls for promoting it, admits she has been feeling the effects.

She finished second behind American star Athing Mu by just eight hundredths of a second in Eugene to extend her wait for a maiden outdoor major championship gold.

Hodgkinson was one of the red-hot favourites to end that pattern in Birmingham but was beaten by Kenyan Mary Moraa in front of a stunned Alexander Stadium.

The north-west star has shown no signs of fatigue in Bavaria this week but does admit the demands of the schedule have been tricky to negotiate.

“I’m tired but I’m taking it race by race,” she added.

“It’s more just mental – I’m tired but I believe in my capabilities and what I can do.

“Today was just about getting the job done.

“I could have taken it on, but it’s just about qualifying and trying to save as much energy.”

* The multi-sport European Championships Munich 2022, featuring Athletics, Beach Volleyball, Canoe Sprint, Cycling, Gymnastics, Table Tennis, Triathlon, Rowing, Sport Climbing, takes place 11th-21st August on the 50th anniversary of the Olympics Games in the German city. Watch daily live coverage across BBC One, Two, Red Button, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website